The Youngest Companion
by Syren Says
Summary: As we all (hopefully) know, Amelia Pond is the Girl Who Waited 12 years (and then some) for her Raggedy Doctor. But what if she didn't have to wait? What if the Doctor, not completely trusting his poor, damaged TARDIS, took Amelia with him? What would have happened then? AU where the Doctor takes little Amelia with him instead of asking her to wait five minutes
1. Chapter 1

As we all (hopefully) know, Amelia Pond is the Girl Who Waited 12 years (and then some) for her Raggedy Doctor. But what if she didn't have to wait? What if the Doctor, not completely trusting his poor, damaged TARDIS, took Amelia with him? What would have happened then?

AU where the Doctor takes little Amelia with him instead of asking her to wait five minutes.

**AN: Hi, i'm new here. This is my first fanfic and i'm just trying it out to see what I can do. The majority of this first chapter is just a retelling of "The Eleventh Hour".**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Doctor Who or any of the characters that you recognize from the Doctor Who. BBC owns them (and my soul).**

**Chapter 1: The Doctor's New Companion**

Amelia Pond knelt down beside her bed and closed her eyes. Aunt Sharon wasn't listening to her when she told her about the crack in her wall, and it was time to do something about it. Now, normally, Amelia Pond wasn't scared of anything, but this crack was _serious_. She didn't understand why Aunt Sharon wouldn't listen to her when she told her about the voices. Aunt Sharon kept telling her it was a normal crack, but Amelia _knew it wasn't_. So if Aunt Sharon wasn't going to help her, then she'd have to ask someone else.

"Dear Santa, thank you for the dolls and pencils and fish." she started. She'd better be polite if she wanted Santa Claus to help her. "It's Easter now, so I hope I didn't wake you. But honest, it is an emergency. There's a crack in my wall." Amelia hoped Santa kept listening. "Aunt Sharon says it's just an ordinary crack, but I know it's not. Because at night there's voices." She shivered slightly. Those voices were really scary. "So please, _please_, could you send someone to fix it?" Maybe she should give Santa some more options... "Or a policeman...or..." Suddenly there was a loud crash coming from her garden. Her eyes flew open. _What was that? "_Back in a moment," she quickly said to Santa so he knew she hadn't left. She hurried to her window and peeked out. There was some kind of box thing in her yard. It looked really messed up._ So does the shed, _she thought when she noticed the crushed shed. _Oh look, there's writing on the box! _She strained her eyes and vaguely made out the words Police Box. Wow, Santa was fast. "Thank you Santa" she said gratefully.

Amelia was glad Aunt Sharon wasn't home. The crash would have woken her, and she probably would have made whoever Santa sent leave before they could fix the crack. As she approached the box, she slowed down. It really looked a mess. Any other seven year old child would probably have stayed in the house and hid, but Amelia Pond was not an average seven year old, so she went right up to the box and shined her torch across it. It looked like it crashed. She was _not_ expecting the doors on top to open with a burst of light and rope to come flying out. She backed up in trepidation. _This might not have been the best idea... _she started to regret coming out. Abruptly, a hand appeared at the top of the box. Another hand soon joined it. Amelia didn't know what to expect. She was fighting the urge to run away. Then a _man_ burst out of the box and beamed at her with crazy eyes.

"Can I have an apple?" the man asked with a breathless voice.

_What? _Amelia was really confused now instead of scared. The crazy man continued talking.

"All I can think about. Apples. I love apples! Maybe I'm having a craving. That's new. I've never had cravings before. Look at that!" he exclaimed in a wonder filled voice.

_Oh God, he's mad. _Amelia thought before she could stop herself. Out loud she asked "Are you okay?" in a tone that suggested that _no, I really do not think you are okay._

In answer, the man said "Just had a fall. All the way down there into the library. Hell of a climb back up."

"You're soaking wet," Amelia noticed. This man just got more and more confusing by the second.

"I was in the swimming pool," he said as though that explained everything.

"You said you were in the library." Was the man lying? Amelia _hated_ liars.

"So's the swimming pool." The strange man continued to beam at her.

Amelia frowned. This man made no sense whatsoever. Better not dwell on the strange conversation she'd just had. "Are you a policeman?"

The crazy man perked up at that. "Why? Did you call a policeman?" he inquired curiously.

_More confusion, _Amelia thought crossly. She wasn't scared anymore. She was frustrated. "Did you come about the crack in my wall?" she asked impatiently.

"What cra-" the man asked before he suddenly seized up with a yell and fell off of his box.

Amelia backed up before looking at him in concern. "Are you alright, Mister?" she asked worriedly. _Maybe he's not crazy; maybe he's just sick. Maybe he needs help-_

The strange man panted harshly. "Yeah, i'm fine, it's okay. This is all perfectly norm-" He cut himself off as he suddenly jerked, then opened his mouth. Amelia was about to ask if he needed help when-

_WHAT WAS THAT? _Amelia's eyes widened. A strange misty light _thing_ had just floated out of his mouth. Amelia stared at the man. "Who are you?" she demanded.

The man held his hands out with a gleeful look. His hands were glowing with the same strange light that had floated out of his mouth. "I don't know. I'm still cooking." He paused, then added, almost as an afterthought, "Does it scare you?"

Amelia considered, then answered truthfully, "No. It just looks a bit weird."

The man shook his head quickly. "No, no no, the crack in your wall, does it scare you?" he clarified.

_Oh_. Amelia had forgotten about that. She swallowed befor answering "Yes."

The crazy man grinned before energetically jumping to his feet. Startled, Amelia backed up a step or two. "Well then! No time to lose!" he burst out excitedly. "I'm the Doctor! Do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions, and _don't wander off!_" He emphasized that last bit. Amelia thought that that must happen a lot to him. He turned around and briskly started walking-right into a tree. He fell down, stunned. Amelia leaned over him with her eyebrows raised.

"You all right?" She asked, again speaking in a _if you say yes then you're lying because you're not voice. _

The crazy man (the Doctor; what kind of name was that?) blinked a few times, before dazedly saying "Early days. Steering a a bit off."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~bowtiesarecool~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cra-_Doctor_ looked around her house like he'd never seen a house before. _Maybe he hasn't, _Amelia thought. She wouldn't even be surprised if that were the case. Apple in hand, she walked up to him and asked "If you're a doctor, why does your box say police?"

The Doctor didn't answer. He gave her an affronted look before grabbing the apple and bighting into it. He immediately spit it back out. Amelia jerked at that. The Doctor coughed before holding the apple out at her.

"This-this is disgusting! What is it?" He demanded harshly. Amelia stared at him.

"An apple," she said in an _isn't it obvious _voice.

"Apples rubbish, I hate apples!" He exclaimed disgustedly. Amelia couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You said you loved them!" She was getting irritated.

"No no no, I'll have yoghurt! Yoghurt's my favorite, give me yoghurt." He demanded. Amelia stared at him before complying and getting him a yoghurt. He eagerly grabbed it, ripped the lid off, drank some, and then promptly spit it out again. Amelia glanced at it as a flew past her. She turned back to him, a little disgusted. "I hate yoghurt! It's just stuff, with bits in it!"

Amelia was clearly annoyed now. "You said it was your favorite!"

"New mouth, new rules." He wiped his mouth with his hand. It didn't help much. "It's like eating after cleaning your teeth, everything tastes wrooOOOONN-" he spasmed again before slapping himself in the forehead.

"What is it? What's wrong with you?" Amelia just wanted to know, but he kept changing the subject or answering with crazy things.

The Doctor stared at her. "What's wrong with me? It's not my fault. Why can't you give me any decent food? You're Scottish, fry me something!"

Amelia thought he sounded a bit like angry toddler.

She soon realized that the Doctor had to be the most picky person _ever_. Bacon was poison, beans were evil, and bread and butter deserved to be thrown out. Eventually, he finally found something that he could enjoy: fish fingers dipped in custard. Amelia gave up trying to convince herself that the Doctor was somewhat sane.

After a minor discussion about her name (Amelia Pond, like a name in a fairy tale), the location (England was rubbish), family (I don't even have an aunt!), and her bravery (Course you're not! You're not scared of anything!), he finally breached the subject of the crack in her wall.

She led him to her bedroom where he poked and prodded the crack. He pressed his ear along it and listened intently, before darting over to her table, grabbing her water cup and flinging all the water out. _Great, another thing to clean up before Aunt Sharon gets back, _she thought distractedly. She was pulled out of her thoughts as the Doctor repeated what she heard the voice say every night. After assuring her in a not really reassuring way that everything was going to be fine, he pointed his funny metal blue buzzing wand thing at the crack. Slowly, the crack opened.

Amelia's heart was in her throat, and she gasped as a giant eyeball thing appeared. Then something knocked the Doctor over and the crack closed. He sounded proud of himself for closing the crack, but after he looked at something he got from his pocket, his expression suddenly turned panicky. He shot up and started running all over the house, babbling too quickly for Amelia to understand. She struggled to keep up with him as he ran every which way, before abruptly stopping and looking at something in the corner of his eye. She'd just stopped herself from crashing into him when they heard a strange sound. The Doctor seemed to recognize it.

"Oh, no no no no no no noo!" He yelled as he raced outside. Amelia chased after him. He ran up to his box, yelling about burning engines or something like that.

"But it's just a box! How can it have engines?" Amelia cried in confusion.

"It's not a box, it's a time machine!" The Doctor yelled back. Amelia wasn't sure she believed him.

"What? A real one? You've got a real time machine?" Hey, maybe he could take her away from her boring life...

"Not for much longer if I can't her stabilized! Five minute hop into the future should do it." He muttered without really thinking.

It was now or never. "Can I come with you?" Amelia asked hesitantly.

"Not safe in here yet. I'll be back. Give me five minutes." The Doctor shook his head.

"People always say that, but they're always lying. Aunt Sharon does it all the time. And you're time machine doesn't look like it can come back in five minutes. It doesn't even look like it can come back in an hour. What if you come back, but I'm already dead? What'll you do then?" Amelia demanded. She didn't want to stay here, in rubbish England with no mum and no dad and a boring old aunt who didn't care about her. "I hate it here. I want to go with you. I promise I'll be careful and I'll listen to whatever you tell me."

The Doctor hesitated at that. He looked at her in a surprised way, as though he didn't believe that Amelia would follow through on that promise. Or maybe he didn't know that Amelia hated her current life so much. "If I tell you not wander off, will you stay put?" he asked slowly in a serious voice.

Amelia was surprised, but she nodded. "I swear on fish fingers and custard," she said because she couldn't think of anything better. The Doctor stared at her thoughtfully. _Please, please, please let me go with you, _Amelia mentally begged. Finally the Doctor sighed and nodded.

"Alright, you can come. But you better remember your promise!" he warned. Amelia nodded furiously. She was jumping with joy inside. The Doctor climbed up his time machine and helped Amelia up. From there, she could see that-_oh wow, it's bigger on the inside! _He glanced at her. "Hey, can you swim?" he suddenly asked. Surprised, she could only nod. He grinned a huge grin. "Brilliant. Hold on tight now." He pulled the rope back in before wrapping his arms around her. Amelia could feel excitement bubbling under her skin and couldn't help but let out a little giggle. The Doctor answered with a loud laugh before sliding off the edge into a free fall. As the doors closed above them, she heard the Doctor yell above her excited shrieking, "GERONIMOOOOOOOOOO!"

**End chapter one**

**AN: So how was it?**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: In the TARDIS

"AHHHHH!" Amelia screamed as they fell. It was cut short as she felt water cover her mouth. _WHAT? WATER? WHY IS THERE WATER?_ Amelia panicked. She clawed upwards, desperate for air. Vaguely, she remembered the Doctor telling her about a swimming pool in the library or something like that. _We must have landed in the swimming pool_, she realised. Suddenly a hand grabbed her arm and she automatically clutched on to it like was her lifeline (_which it probably was_, she thought dimly). She was pulled upwards until her head broke the surface of the water. She coughed and gasped. She was pulled over to the edge where she shakily crawled out of the pool. A hand was rubbing her back. After a moment she realised the Doctor was speaking.

"Oh dear, I suppose I probably should have warned you that we would be landing in the pool. I thought you knew when I asked if you knew how to swim. It was stupid of me to automatically assume something like that; I'm so sorry, Amelia, are you alright?" The Doctor rambled on nervously.

Amelia drew in deep breaths, and when she'd stopped shaking, answered "Fine, I'm fine." She looked around in wonder. They were in a _huge_ room. There were bookshelves everywhere, but most of the books seemed to be scattered across the ground. Several bookshelves had tipped over. It was a mess. "Are we in the library?" she asked. The Doctor nodded.

"Yup, this is the library I was telling you about. The one with the pool. But I expect you already know that. I mean, we just fell into the pool, but you might not have been paying the most attention at that ti-" Amelia cut him off.

"But-but wasn't your box, er, time machine sideways? Why is everything right side up?" _Well, mostly. "_And-and it's bigger on the inside!" she suddenly remembered that. "How is that possible? How can it be bigger on the inside?"

The Doctor opened his mouth before he jerked as though he'd suddenly remembered something important. He leaped to his feet and pulled a startled Amelia up with him before dashing out of the library. "Ah, explanations will have to happen later. Right now, I've got to get her stabilised!" he called over his shoulder. Amelia hurried after him, grimacing at her damp state. They ran through corridor after corridor. _Gosh, I'd hate to get lost in here, _Amelia thought. Eventually they arrived at a big, open room with some kind of console thing in the center. The Doctor was quickly set to work flipping switches and turning knobs. It all seemed so random Amelia. She hoped the Doctor knew what he was doing.

The Doctor glanced at her quickly. "Erm, you may want to grab on to something. It's going to get pretty bumpy soon..." he trailed off, once again focusing on his task. Amelia could tell that he wasn't lying. She didn't think that it was possible that the ride _wouldn't_ be rough. There were areas that looked like they'd been burnt and little sparks flying off of severed wires. It looked like this room had suffered the most damage. She wrapped her arms around a nearby pole that looked sturdy and prayed that it wouldn't break.

"Aaaand...here we go!" The Doctor energetically pulled a lever and grabbed on to the console thing. The blue green column in the center started to move up and down, and Amelia heard a strange "Vworp vworp" noise. Things started to shake, then she shrieked as the ground suddenly pitched back and forth. _It's like an out of control roller coaster! _she thought. _Only, without restraints to keep you safe._ She grabbed onto her pole tighter and squeezed her eyes shut. Her feet couldn't seem to stay still. Everytime she thought she'd found her balance, the ground would rock and she would once again be thrown off kilter. The pole was the only thing keeping her upright. She wondered how the Doctor was faring. Maybe he was used to this...?

Eventually the rocking stopped. Amelia slowly opened her eyes and let go of the pole. Wires were lying everywhere in a haphazard manner. She didn't see the Doctor anywhere. "Doctor?" she called. Where was he?

"Down here!" a muffled voice called from the ground. She looked down and saw the Doctor waving at her. It looked as if he had fallen. "Er, I seem to fallen," he stated bemusedly. "...Could you help me up?" Amelia sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Why didn't you hold on to anything?" she asked as she pulled him up. He rubbed his head embarrassedly.

"I guess I forgot," he mumbled. "Sorry about that." Amelia sighed again. Then a thought struck her.

"What happened? Did we travel through time?" _Wow, that'd be awesome, _her mind marveled. She looked around for a window, but she couldn't find one. "Where're we now?"

The Doctor suddenly clapped his hands and beamed widely. "Why, that's what we have to find out now, isn't it?" he asked gleefully. "Ahh, I love surprises! They're always so exciting!" He bounced towards the door.

_Hey, I thought the door led to the library! What's going on? _Amelia realised. She was about to ask when she suddenly remembered their state of dress. "Aren't you going to change first?" she asked. "You're all raggedy. You're not the Doctor, you're the Raggedy Doctor. Shouldn't you change into something cleaner?" The Doctor shook his head.

"No time! The poor dear's got to fix herself up, don't you?" he cooed and patted the wall.

There was a metallic hum from the ceiling. Amelia gasped and snapped her head up, but she didn't see anything weird.

"What was that?" she demanded. The Doctor blinked.

"Oh yeah! I forgot that you two hadn't been acquainted yet! Silly Doctor," he chastised himself. Then he gestured at their surroundings. "Amelia, this is the TARDIS. Say hi."

Amelia blinked. _What? _"Um, hi?" she offered hesitantly. The ceiling hummed again. "What-you're time machine's _alive_?" she asked incredulously

The Doctor nodded vigorously. "Yup," he affirmed, popping the "p". "She's my time machine, my TARDIS. Stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. She can go anywhere, anywhen. Dear," he addressed the ceiling. "This is Amelia Pond. She's going to be my new Companion! Isn't that exciting?" This time, Amelia thought that the hum seemed a bit uncertain. "Oh, I know she's young, but that hardly matters! Come on, she's brilliant! She's not scared of anything! You'll love her, I know you will. Give it some time. You'll warm up to her!" Amelia was a bit confused. The Doctor was arguing with the TARDIS about her age? The ceil-TARDIS hummed again, but this time it seemed to be some kind of warning. "Oh, sorry Dear! I completely forgot!" The Doctor slapped himself on the forehead. "Come along, Pond. We have to go, unless you want to be reformed into the ceiling." He took her hand and bounced out the doors. "Explanations will come once we're outside, don't worry." He reassured her. Amelia shrugged.

"Fine." she muttered. She allowed herself to be led out. A bright light forced her to screw up her eyes. She blinked away the pain. "Where are we?" She looked around. Wherever they were, it looked really peaceful. It wasn't too hot or too cold. She could feel herself relaxing.

"The Eye of Orion. One of the most tranquil places in the universe," the Doctor answered. His voice seemed a bit hushed, as if he didn't want to break the peacefulness. "I thought we could stay here until the Old Girl fixed herself up." He looked around and sighed in a peaceful manner. "Thought we could use the rest too." He started walking towards a group of trees. Amelia followed. The Doctor plopped himself down in the shade of the trees. Amelia followed his lead and collapsed on her back. Suddenly all her fatigue caught up to her and she attempted to stifle a yawn. It was not successful. "You should take a nap," the Doctor suggested. "You're probably really tired, with the whole staying up all night and stuff." Amelia stubbornly shook her head.

"You said you'd explain everything once we got outside," she protested drowsily.

"So I did. But you're tired. And we've got time. Time machine, remember?" He flashed a grin. He had a point.

"Promise you'll explain everything?" she mumbled. The Doctor nodded solemnly.

"I promise." he said in a super serious voice. Amelia hmm-ed and finally closed her eyes. She heard the trill of birds and then-she'd fallen asleep.

**End chapter two**

**AN: Short chapter. Sorry there's not much action. Don't worry, I'll get to that shortly. Please share your thoughts on the story! Constructive criticism is always welcome.**


	3. Chapter 3

AN: I forgot the disclaimer for the last chapter, so here it is!

Disclaimer - I don't own any characters you recognize (Amelia Pond, the Doctor, the TARDIS, etc.). They are all owned by the BBC and Mr. Moffat.

**Chapter 3: Explanations**

Amelia yawned as she slowly woke up. _Mmmm... it smells so nice... wait, this isn't my bedroom..._ she drowsily thought. She forced her eyes open in panic and shot up before remembering where she was and why she was there. _Oh yeah. Doctor, TARDIS, traveling through time_. She sighed in relief and relaxed. Looking around, she noticed the TARDIS was still where they had left it (_no, her,_ she reminded herself), but the Doctor wasn't anywhere in sight. "Doctor?" she called in surprise. "Doctor, where are you?" She pushed herself to her feet. _Do not panic do not panic do not panic_

"Amelia? I'm over here!" the Doctor called in a funny sort of hushed voice. Amelia was too relieved to notice. She hurried over to where the Doctor's voice had come from.

"Hey, what are you " she cut herself off as she saw the Doctor slumped on the ground in front of something._ It looks a bit like a memorial,_ she mused. The Doctor looked sad as he stared at it. It looked so strange to see the Doctor so depressed when he'd been so energetic and bouncy since she'd met him. "Are you okay?" she asked in concern. The Doctor looked at her sadly.

"That's a memorial for the Last Great Time War," he said as though Amelia would understand. She waited for him to continue, but he remained silent. She sat down on the grass next to him.

"What's the Last Great Time War?" she asked eventually. The Doctor sighed.

"I did promise you explanations, didn't I? I guess this is a good enough place to start." He was silent for a few more seconds before turning his head away to look at the memorial again. "I'm not human. I'm a time traveler, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. I've got two hearts." Amelia started.

_Two hearts? Woah... _Belatedly she realized the Doctor was speaking again.

"There was a war between my people and a species called the Daleks. It lasted for... a long time. In the end, the Time Lords were losing, and they wanted to do something known as the Final Sanction. They would become beings of pure consciousness. It would let them win the war, but..." the Doctor trailed off hesitantly. He swallowed before continuing. "But it came with a price; the rest of creation would be destroyed, not just the Daleks."

Amelia was listening with wide eyes. "So what happened?" she asked.

The Doctor bowed his head. "I... I couldn't let that happen. I tried to talk them out of it, but they wouldn't listen. So... I had to..." The Doctor's voice dropped to a whisper. Amelia could barely hear him. "I put the entire war into a Time Lock. I destroyed my people along with the Daleks. Gallifrey **_burned_**."

Amelia couldn't believe it. "You destroyed the Time Lords?" she asked. "So- so you're the last Time Lord now?" She didn't know what to say. She had a feeling the Doctor wouldn't be very happy if she said she was sorry. "I- I- " She swallowed. Hesitantly, she put her hand on the Doctor's shoulder. _Maybe he needs a distraction,_ she thought desperately. "S-so, your TARDIS, um, she's alive, yeah? How can she be bigger on the inside?"

The Doctor lifted his head and cleared his throat. Amelia had the feeling that he was glad she had changed the subject. "That's because she's dimensionally transcendental. She exists on a different dimension than yours. Means whenever you step into the TARDIS, you're stepping into a different dimension." He gestured crazily.

"Um...ok," Amelia nodded slowly. _Sounds simple enough,_ she thought. "So is that why the inside was right side up when the outside wasn't?"

The Doctor beamed at her. "You're a clever little ginger, aren't you?" He patted her on the head. Amelia made a face at him, but didn't say anything. "You're right. It's also why the doors led to the library the first time, and then led to the console room the second. Normally it stays with the console room, but with all the fancy flying my poor TARDIS had to do, she wasn't really paying attention to where the door was." He sighed. "Poor girl."

"How do you build something that's alive?" Amelia asked curiously. She paused, then added, "You did build her, right?" The Doctor shook his head.

"Nope! She was grown, just like all TARDISes are! TARDISes are symbiotic lifeforms. Works best if the TARDIS accepts the driver." The Doctor smiled fondly, like he was remembering something nice.

"So you grew her?" Amelia was getting pretty confused. How can you grow a time machine?

"Er...no, actually, I, ah, I _borrowed_ her." The Doctor chuckled sheepishly. "I was a renegade. Took her without permission."

Amelia frowned. "So you stole her?"

"No!" the Doctor protested emphatically. "I _borrowed_ her. I was always going to give her back...eventually."

Amelia raised an eyebrow (or tried to anyway. One of these days, she was going to figure out how to do it properly). "You stole her."

"No, I-" the Doctor stopped mid-sentence and sighed. "Oh, fine. I stole her." Amelia grinned triumphantly.

"So what do you now? Go around and crash into people's yards?" she inquired.

"Hey, that was an accident!" The Doctor _pouted_. He actually _pouted_. Amelia had to stifle a laugh. "I never meant to crash into your yard! It was just an accident!"

_Well, I'm glad you landed in my yard_, Amelia thought happily. "So what do you do, then?"

"Adventures, action, I go around and just try to have fun and help people. It never seems to go according to plan though..." his voice trailed off. Suddenly he jumped up, startling Amelia. "Well, that's enough for now. I think the TARDIS should be done reforming herself now. Time to go!" He bounded off in the direction of the TARDIS. Amelia quickly scrambled after him. As they reached the TARDIS, the Doctor pulled a key from his pocket, but the TARDIS made a humming sound. The Doctor stopped and blinked before grinning and pocketing the key again. "Why, you show-off," he muttered fondly as he stepped back. Louder, he said to Amelia, "Behold, the TARDIS in her non-broken state!" Snapping his fingers, the TARDIS doors opened slowly. Amelia stepped inside and gasped.

"Woah, she's changed!" Amelia looked around eagerly. It was absolutely _beautiful_. The Doctor bounced in after her.

"Where've you been hiding this design, Old Girl?" He puttered about at the console. "Button, computer, co-ordinates, lever, lever, more levers, another button, twisty thing, more buttons, so many buttons, ketchup, mustard, you're absolutely beautiful!" he enthused, spinning around dizzily. His joy was contagious, and soon Amelia was laughing and twirling around with him. Eventually they both stopped, giggling breathlessly. The Doctor grabbed the console to keep him from falling to the ground and cleared his throat.

"Right, well your room should be somewhere. I'm sure if you ask nicely, the TARDIS will be happy to show you. Take a shower and change your clothes or something. Look around. If you get lost, just ask the TARDIS. When you're ready, come back here and we'll be off! I'm going to go find some more decent clothes." the Doctor bounded off. Amelia blinked rapidly as she processed what he said.

"Wait, where're we going?" she yelled, but the Doctor either didn't hear her or chose not to answer. _Well then, _Amelia thought. _How do I ask the TARDIS where my room is? _She looked at the ceiling. "Um, TARDIS? Uh, could you please tell me where my room is? If you don't mind," she tacked on quickly at the end. Nothing happened for a few seconds, then-

_Hey, who turned out the lights? _Amelia panicked. _Oh no, did I touch something?_ She whirled around to see, but then noticed a hallway was lit up. "Oh, do you want me to follow the lights?" she realised. The TARDIS hummed. _I guess that means yes_. Amelia hesitantly walked down the hallway. She kept following the lights until she arrived at a door that had a sign on it that read AMELIA'S ROOM. Amelia jumped when the door opened by itself. She walked and froze in shock. _It looks exactly like my room at home! _The bed was there and the lights and all the other furniture that was in her room. She ran over to the closet. It was stocked with clothes her size. "Wow, thanks!" The TARDIS hummed again. Amelia cleaned herself up before changing her clothes. She dropped her dirty clothes in a basket that was conveniently located in the bathroom. She'd wash them later. After looking around for awhile, she headed back to the console room. Or tried to. She wandered around before finally admitting defeat and asking the TARDIS to take her back to the console room.

When she arrived, the Doctor was already there. He was dressed strangely, like an old man, only he looked young. _What the- is that a bowtie? _She looked at the Doctor incredulously. "Are you wearing a bowtie?"

The Doctor looked up, startled. Then his face turned to a pout (_Oh gosh_, Amelia thought). "What's wrong with bowties? Bowties are cool!" He straightened his bowtie indignantly.

Amelia shrugged. "If you say so." She could tell she was fighting a losing battle. "So where're we going?"

The Doctor grinned. He started to press buttons and pull levers. "Hold on to something!" he exclaimed gleefully. Amelia remembered last time and quickly grabbed onto another pole.

"Where're we going?!" Amelia demanded.

"We're off to deal with Prisoner Zero!" the Doctor crowed. He pulled a lever, and they were off.

**End chapter three**

**AN: Constructive criticism is always welcome. Please comment your thoughts. Next chapter Amelia and the Doctor will be dealing with Prisoner Zero. **


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Sorry this is so late! School's just started and I already have homework. Also, I was writing this on Google Drive and it broke so I had to rewrite it with Microsoft Word. Excuses, excuses.**

**Disclaimer - I do not own any of the characters that you recognize. EVERYTHING IS OWNED BY THE BBC, INCLUDING MY SOUL.**

**Chapter 4: Catching Prisoner Zero**

Amelia clutched her pole tightly until the shaking stopped. _Ugh, I guess he's just a really bad driver, _she thought in irritation. When the shaking stopped, she lifted her head and glanced around for the Doctor. "Hey, where are we now? Are we back at Leadworth?"

The Doctor peered at the screen hanging next to his head. "Yup, looks like it! And… oops, oh dear, that may cause some problems…" he trailed off guiltily and scratched his head.

"What? What's wrong? What's wrong?" Amelia scrambled to his side and tried to see the screen, but all she saw were a bunch of circles. _Hey, what is that? Is that, whatchamacallit, Gallifreyan? _

"Er, we appear to be a bit late…" the Doctor peered at her uncertainly.

"Late?! What? How late?" Amelia demanded. The Doctor ducked his head guiltily.

"Um… two years? More or less." The Doctor glanced at her, then added quickly "Trust me, I wasn't aiming for that; I tried to go back to exactly where you came from, but we somehow ended up here. I'm sorry, Pond, but I'm sure it'll be alright. I mean, it could be worse; we could have been 12 years late, right?" He laughed weakly. Amelia continued to glare at him. He quickly shut up.

"Why can't you just take us back in time?" Amelia asked. "You've got a time machine, and that's what time machines do, isn't it?"

The Doctor sighed. "I wish we could. Unfortunately, now that we're here, we're stuck in this time stream. If we try to go back, we could create a paradox, and paradoxes are very bad and should be avoided at all times." Amelia blinked in confusion. "To put it simply, it's all very timey-wimey and complicated, but we can't go back. I'm sorry, Pond."

Amelia huffed. "Well, then I guess you can't do anything about it," she muttered resentfully. "Let's just go out and catch that prisoner guy." Then a thought struck her and she whirled on the Doctor. "Wait, Prisoner Zero's been in my house for two years? What about Aunt Sharon?!" Just because she didn't really like Aunt Sharon didn't mean she wanted anything bad to happen to her…

"Well, we'd better go out and check!" the Doctor yelled, dashing for the door. Amelia hurried after him. She barged through the front door yelling.

"Aunt Sharon! Aunt Sharon, are you there? Are you alright? Aunt Sharon?!" Amelia dashed around the house, searching. "She-she's not here! I can't find her! Doctor, I can't find Aunt Sharon!" She panicked.

"Whoa, calm down, Pond. Let's not jump to conclusions, ok? Maybe she's out doing whatever it is you humans like to do, like shopping!" The Doctor tried to reassure her. Amelia breathed in and out deeply a couple times before speaking again. The Doctor had a point.

_I mean, it's not like she can stay at home all day, right? _Amelia thought nervously. "W-Well, we'd better look for Prisoner Zero now. You think he's still here?" She turned towards the Doctor. "Hey, what are you doing?"

The Doctor was examining a door. "Last time I was here, there was something about this door that caught my attention. I can't remember what, but there was something interesting about it. Like seeing something from the corner of your eye…" he muttered distractedly. He took something out of his pocket and pressed it against the door. It buzzed when he pushed a button. Amelia jumped in surprise, which startled the Doctor, and he dropped his buzzing wand thing. It rolled under the door. The Doctor stared incredulously as Amelia swallowed thickly.

"Should we go in?" she asked hesitantly. _Come on, Amelia, you're not scared!_ she thought fiercely. Squaring her shoulders, she pushed the Doctor aside and started turning the knob.

"Hey now, let's not be hasty!" the Doctor said. "There could be something bad in that room. We're still not entirely sure what Prisoner Zero is!" Amelia stopped in surprise.

_What Prisoner Zero is? I hadn't thought of that…_ Amelia frowned. _Well, too late now! _She turned the knob all the way and pushed open the door.

"Hey, the room's empty!" Amelia said in surprise. The Doctor brushed past her and looked around. His eyes landed on something and he froze. Amelia followed his gaze and saw the metal wand thing lying on a table.

_Wait, what? Lying on a table?_ Amelia slowly started walking towards it. "Doctor, why is your wand thing on the table? Does it-does it move by itself or something? Is it alive too?" It was possible.

The Doctor blinked out of his stupor. "Wha…? Wand thing… oh, you mean the sonic screwdriver!" he exclaimed. "No, no, that doesn't move!" Then he blinked again. "Hold on, it doesn't move!" He marveled at his revelation. Amelia stopped.

"Then why is it on the table?" She looked at the thing (_sonic screwdriver_) lying innocently. She hesitantly started walking towards it again, but the Doctor quickly grabbed her arm.

"Amelia," the Doctor said, and Amelia was shocked at how serious he sounded. He didn't sound anything like before. Suddenly, the Doctor really did seem like a 900-something year old alien that had fought a long and terrible war. "We need to go. We need to go **_now_**." He pulled her towards the door, but then-

Amelia's breathe caught in her throat. Her heart hammered against her ribs. _What was- what was that? It sounded like- like- _

"Amelia, don't panic, but I think the door just closed." The Doctor's voice seemed higher than usual, and it cut through Amelia's fear. She swallowed the urge to answer sarcastically and instead turned around slowly with her eyes closed. She felt the Doctor do the same (although she didn't think he closed his eyes). When she was all the way around, she opened her eyes.

"Guh-!" Amelia's eyes were as wide as tennis balls. **_There was some kind of eel thing hanging from the ceiling. _**Its teeth looked impossibly long and sharp. It waved around in a menacing manner. She unconsciously grabbed the Doctor's arm. Then the eel thing opened its mouth and started to hiss-

Amelia screamed.

The Doctor leapt into action. He quickly pulled Amelia over to the table his screwdriver thingy lay on and grabbed it, pushing Amelia behind him in the process. Brandishing it at the eel thing like a weapon, he yelled "Stay back!" The eel thing stopped hissing, but it was still baring its teeth.

_THAT'S PRISONER ZERO?! _Amelia's mind screamed. She stared. She couldn't look away.

"_Doctorrrrr…_" the eel th- Prisoner Zero hissed in a raspy, slightly feminine voice.

"Prisoner Zero," the Doctor replied tersely. "What a surprise to see you here." Prisoner Zero made a funny hissing sound. Amelia realized it was laughing.

"_I was wondering when you'd get here… I took care of the other human a while agoooo…_" Amelia's eyes widened.

"What?" she burst out before she could stop herself. _Does it mean Aunt Sharon? _Belatedly she realized that Prisoner Zero's attention was fixed on her. Swallowing, she ignored the Doctor's tightening grip on her arm and stepped forward. "What've you done to Aunt Sharon?!"

"_Aunt Sharonnn…" _Prisoner Zero hissed. Suddenly, it started to- to melt or something. Amelia stepped back quickly. _What is it doing?_ She thought worriedly. Her eyes widened when Prisoner Zero started to shift into-

"Aunt Sharon!" she cried in confusion.

"No," The Doctor shook his head. "It's still Prisoner Zero. Prisoner Zero's a multiform, means it can take any shape it wants providing it's got a mental connection with a living but dormant host. Don't worry, Amelia, if it can turn into your aunt, then your aunt's probably not dead." Amelia swallowed. While it was comforting to think that Aunt Sharon was okay, she couldn't help but notice the ominous _dormant_ the Doctor used.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Amelia tugged her arm free and crossed it. Before the Doctor could answer, Prisoner Zero interrupted.

"It means she's in a coma, child." Prisoner Zero said in a voice that sounded exactly like her aunt's but completely different at the same time. It was seriously disconcerting.

"A coma? What's that?" Amelia furrowed her brow.

This time the Doctor answered. "It means she's sleeping and she can't wake up." Prisoner Zero suddenly chuckled.

"Amelia Pond. You've been missing for two years, you know? My my, such a naughty child. Your poor aunt's been worried sick. Imagine if she knew what really happened! Young children shouldn't run away with strange men, Amelia." Prisoner Zero taunted in a hateful voice. Amelia clenched her fists tightly, but before she could do anything, the Doctor butted in.

"Now that's just rude. Really, you're just a guest in this house, and an uninvited one, too. You can't just go around saying things like that." Amelia gaped as the Doctor did a 180 and was suddenly bright and cheery again. "Now are you going to come willingly, or do I need to drag you back to the Shadow Proclamation?"

Prisoner Zero scoffed. "If I go back now, I'll be executed without a trial. You know that. You also know what my answer will be."

The Doctor nodded a bit sadly. "You're right. I do know. So I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to take you before the Shadow Proclamation now."

"But what if you never make it there? What if you suddenly died? What if I killed you right here, right now. Both of you," And suddenly Prisoner Zero looked at Amelia. The Doctor quickly shoved Amelia behind him again.

"Well, you could certainly try, but I'll warn you now, I'm quite difficult to kill. And I won't let you hurt Amelia. You leave her out of this." Then he raised his sonic screwdriver and pressed the button.

_Ugh!_ An ear-splitting screech filled the air. Prisoner Zero turned back into its eel form and let out a wail. A window shattered, and the Doctor quickly pushed Amelia towards it.

"Quick, run!" the Doctor yelled over the sound. He pushed Amelia through the broken window before jumping out after her. When they were out, he released his hold on the button and the horrible noise stopped. The Doctor tried to pocket the screwdriver, but Prisoner Zero suddenly lunged out the window and grabbed it. It crunched it in its teeth like a cookie. The Doctor stared in shock, but Amelia grabbed his jacket and pulled as hard as she could. The Doctor stumbled before running after her. They ran as far as they could before collapsing in front of a house, panting. Well, Amelia was, anyway. The Doctor was looking back in the direction they had just come from. "My screwdriver!" he lamented. "It broke my screwdriver!" Amelia just panted and glared enviously.

"Um… hello?" a timid voice said behind them. Amelia twisted her head around. Her eyes landed on a boy about her age. He had blond hair and stood in the doorway of a house, staring at them.

"Oh, hi." Amelia panted. "Sorry about this, but do you think we could come in for a bit? We won't stay long, promise. We just need somewhere to rest." _Well, I need somewhere to rest, _she thought resentfully. She looked at the Doctor, who was still wailing over the loss of his screwdriver.

The boy blinked. "Um…sure? I guess," he said a bit hesitantly. He opened the door wider and gestured weakly for them to come in. Amelia got up and tugged on the Doctor's arm until he followed her into the house.

Turning to the boy, she quickly said, "I'm Amelia Pond, and that's the Doctor. What's your name?" she asked.

"Rory." He answered. "Rory Williams."

**End chapter four**

**AN: And Rory enters the stage! **

**So it turns out that this will be a two-parter. I wanted it to be in one chapter, but I didn't want it to be too long, and I felt bad for not updating in a while. I'll try to update faster now. Please share your thoughts on the story. Constructive criticism is always welcome!**


End file.
